Some Helpful Stuff

Little Black Book

Whilst we would like you to think of Persepolis as a one stop shop for your ticket to Veggiestan, this is not strictly the case. Here’s some other helpful addresses, but it would be kind of cool if this page became a really comprehensive online resource – so PLEASE add your own recommendations and comments to the lists:

Restaurants:
Some of these I have visited and love, some of them have simply been recommended. Please remember that few of them will be especially hot on veggie food – Middle Easterners in the diaspora usually go out to eat meat. And also remember that many of them will be Bring your Own: some of them may even frown on alcoholic consumption on the premises. NB – I found it hard on principle to recommend restaurants with websites that play loud belly-dancing music at you from the off.

The lovely Sarah in France has submitted the following list of Parisian resources:

Épicerie de Bruno
30 Rue Tiquetonne, 75002 Paris
It’s a small shop but easily the best in Paris, the owner is one of the friendliest I’ve met and would happily spend hours giving advice on how to use anything in the shop. A lot of the stock is out the back because the shop is so small so you just need to ask if you can’t find something, or even better if your french is terrible, make a list and hand it over, i promise, he’ll only laugh at you a little.

A chain of small family-owned shops with helpful staff and admittedly the best prices outside of Rue des entrepreneurs. The staff give you honest advice and allow you to taste things like olives before you decide which to buy. It would be my favourite if it i hadn’t found Bruno’s.

Rue des Entrepreneurs
75015 Paris
There are 3 or 4 Iranian shops on this street so you can find absolutely anything and the prices are the cheapest in the city. On a good day you’ll be lucky to get a hello from the owners, on a bad day you’ll probably get the impression they wish you’d just get out but it’s worth persevering if you’re on a budget. Also there are a lot of shops on this road selling freshly made food.

Les Délices D’Orient
52, Avenue Emile Zola, 75015 Paris
Not too far from Rue des entrepreneurs, it’s the biggest shop of the lot but the prices are a bit higher. That being said the people working there are much nicer so it’s worth it if you’re a sensitive soul! They also have a deli where they serve the most delicious, fresh meals, dips and pastries.

Izraël
30 Rue François Miron, 75004 Paris
Definitely the most expensive shop in Paris but absolutely packed with the ingredients to cook food from almost any country in the world. It’s great if you don’t want to spend your entire weekend running around the city trying to find ingredients for lots of different cuisines (like I did the first week I’d been living here) But like I said, it’s really VERY expensive.

As noted above, it would be great if you could chip in with your suggestions. And this list is glaringly obviously mostly for the UK: please let us know if you have any shops or restaurants that you can recommend in other countries.

18 Responses to Some Helpful Stuff

The Belgian vegetarian organisation EVA (Ethical Vegetarian Alternative) informs people about all aspects of plant based food. We inform about delicious and healthy vegetarian/vegan food because we think it’s good for your health, the environment and the animals.

For our magazine and website we write book, film and website reviews. Our quarterly magazine is read by 10.000 readers, and more than 3.500 people visit our website http://www.vegetarisme.be every day.

We would love to review “Veggiestan” by Sally Butcher in one or several of our publications. Would it be possible to send us a review copy please?
Thanks very Much

Just about to buy your book as I have been reading your tweets and wish I still lived in London. For Bristol I recommend Bristol Sweet Mart in St Mark’s Road, Easton for the most diverse range of flours and food stuffs from Europe and the Middle East that you can find in Bristol. I wish you had a shop in Bristol though

Sally, do you have a publicist in the U.S.? I’m an Amazon.com Top Reviewer who reviews mostly cookbooks (many of them vegetarian), and I would simply LOVE to review your “The New Middle Eastern Vegetarian: Modern Recipes from Veggiestan.”

I must have been living under a rock because I’ve only just found your book this month! I just wanted to say thank you so much, the recipes I’ve tried so far (10 in just two weeks) have been absolutely amazing. I also love the way you’ve written the book, I’ve been reading it like a novel. I think I’m going to buy some broccoli just to try the stalk with salt, broccoli hating boyfriend be dammed! So I have a few addresses for those who own your books in Paris, this could get a bit long, sorry!

Épicerie de Bruno
30 Rue Tiquetonne, 75002 Paris
It’s a small shop but easily the best in Paris, the owner is one of the friendliest I’ve met and would happily spend hours giving advice on how to use anything in the shop. A lot of the stock is out the back because the shop is so small so you just need to ask if you can’t find something, or even better if your french is terrible, make a list and hand it over, i promise, he’ll only laugh at you a little.

A chain of small family-owned shops with helpful staff and admittedly the best prices outside of Rue des entrepreneurs. The staff give you honest advice and allow you to taste things like olives before you decide which to buy. It would be my favourite if it i hadn’t found Bruno’s.

Rue des Entrepreneurs
75015 Paris
There are 3 or 4 Iranian shops on this street so you can find absolutely anything and the prices are the cheapest in the city. On a good day you’ll be lucky to get a hello from the owners, on a bad day you’ll probably get the impression they wish you’d just get out but it’s worth persevering if you’re on a budget. Also there are a lot of shops on this road selling freshly made food.

Les Délices D’Orient
52, Avenue Emile Zola, 75015 Paris
Not too far from Rue des entrepreneurs, it’s the biggest shop of the lot but the prices are a bit higher. That being said the people working there are much nicer so it’s worth it if you’re a sensitive soul! They also have a deli where they serve the most delicious, fresh meals, dips and pastries.

Izraël
30 Rue François Miron, 75004 Paris
Definitely the most expensive shop in Paris but absolutely packed with the ingredients to cook food from almost any country in the world. It’s great if you don’t want to spend your entire weekend running around the city trying to find ingredients for lots of different cuisines (like I did the first week I’d been living here) But like I said, it’s really VERY expensive.

Ok, that was longer than even I expected but hopefully it helps, the supermarkets here are tiny so you really have to hunt for these things.

Thank you again for Veggiestan, it’s an incredible book, I can’t wait for the next one!

Unfortunately, Topoli in Cardiff is no more. Which is a shame because it was very good indeed.

On the plus side there is Lilo Grill House also on City Road (72-74) which is excellent. Probably best described as General Middle Eastern although it was described to me by a taxi driver as “Kurdish but the owner is Tunisian”. There’s not a massive amount veggie wise among the main courses but there are plenty of veggie starters you can order a smorgasboard of to make a satisfying meal of (that’s what my vegetarian friends tend to do when we go there)

Also on City Road (192) is Troy. A Turkish restaurant which looks like a fairly bog standard kebab shop from the front but is actually really very good (not been in a good while though I must admit)

There are a few more on City Road that I would be less sure about recommending either because I’ve never been (Kan Zaman – 116 City Rd, Syrian/Lebanese apparently) or only been once (Mezza Luna – 159 City Road Moroccan/Lebanese).

Oh, also, Falafel Wales is at a new address – 122 Cowbridge Road East, CF11 9DX. And it is deserving of it’s brilliant reputation. Although I would say that if you are specifically after a brilliant lamb kofte I would rate Lilo or Troy slightly higher. But Falafel Wales is all about the Koshary anyway. And the mint lemonade.

And a Bristol one…there is a Moroccan (I know, heading into North Africa here but I noticed you’ve got some North African places listed above already) place in St Nicholas Market called Al Bab Mansour which is excellent.

sally,
you mentioned katteh as being the best remedy ever for digestive problems.
is it also useful for constipation?
what is the recipe as your book does not mention this. what are the ingredients and how is it cooked and what about the yogurt?

Hi Martine,
Katteh is basically just overcooked (white) rice! The method is mentioned on the same page in the book (p131 in the UK edition).
It is good for when you are feeling icky and having trouble keeping food down. But white rice has little fibre (and few nutrients), so if you are constipated brown rice would be better. Live yoghurt of course is very good for the gut.
Hope this helps.
Best wishes,
Sally

Sally! I am so inspired by your book Veggistan that I have two copies – one for me and one to share the love! I am organising a vegetarian supper club on the 1st June and I will be using inspiration from your book as well as some of my mother’s old recipes. The theme of the vegetarian supper club will be “Arabian Nights” and ALL proceeds will go to a children’s charity that is grass roots and focuses on building schools with a targeted curriculum for children in the third world. I would love to be able to speak with you more about my project and get some advice from you. If you could attend / blog about it on the Londonist then EVEN BETTER!! It is going to be a really special occasion and I am super excited.

By coincidence, I was talking about this to a friend, who said I MUST try a place in Peckham called Persepolis…its a small world hey!

Hi Sajni – thanks for this – you have made my morning
I won’t be able to attend unfortunately – but I will certainly mention it on this website. How do people find out more about it/book tickets?
I wish you all the best with it and hope that it raises loads for your chosen charity.
In the meantime, hope to welcome you to the shop one day.